YPF will have a 100% stake in the area, which was previously administered under an exploration and exploitation association agreement between YPF, Petrobras Argentina and Petrouruguay, specialized website EconoJournal reported April 16, citing documents from the Argentine government and more specifically Resolution 196/2019.

The exploration deal is broken into two periods or phases of four years, with possibility for extension for another five years as well as possibility to obtain rights to the exploitation concession for the area.

In the first phase, YPF will undertake 3D seismic studies over a 1,500 square kilometer area and 2D seismic studies over a 2,169 square kilometer area. In the second phase, the company will drill an exploratory well to a targeted depth of 1,500 meters.

Additionally, Argentina’s government also announced that YPF, Enap Sipetrol and Pampa Energía (also the former Enarsa), transformed to the state rights to the offshore areas E-1, E-2, Salmón and Calamar, EconoJournal said, citing on this occasion Resolution 195/2019.

The areas were reverted and transferred to the national government after the companies failed to solicit plans to renew the rights, the media said.